In order for concrete railway ties to satisfactorily compete with timber ties it is necessary for costs to be reduced as far as possible. Thus the time taken in the removal of the spacer members from between aligned open ended moulds is critical when the number of ties cast in a single run of the hopper is considerable. It is of course essential that a large number of ties be cast in a single work shift, and the main object of this invention is to provide improvements which result in considerable time savings over any of the methods which have been disclosed in the specifications referred to above, or in commercially known techniques which have been used heretofore.
The severing of the wires between the moulds after removal of the spacers is a process which is frequently time consuming. According to the most usual method of production, the space between the ends of aligned moulds is quite considerable, and severing is effected by means of either a cutting wheel or an oxy torch. Usually the wires are severed adjacent the ends of the ties in one multi-cavity mould, and subsequently severed adjacent the ends of the ties in an adjacent multi-cavity mould, the short lengths of wires being discarded. This results in at least two passes of a cutting tool, and it is therefore a time consuming operation. A still further object of this invention is to provide improvements whereby the wires can be severed with a single pass of a cutter.